Skin when rubbing against another surface of skin causes irritation, breaks down and becomes irritated. Perspiration is usually also present in areas where skin rubs together. Intertrigo, or a rash in body folds, develops. Affected skin is reddened and uncomfortable. Body folds are prone to inflammatory rashes because the skin has a relatively high temperature, moisture from insensible water loss and sweat cannot evaporate, and friction from movement of adjacent skin results in chafing. Bacteria, fungus and yeasts, which are normally resident on the skin, multiply in such environments and may result in further damage to the skin.
It can appear anywhere two skin surfaces lie next to each other and rub together, but most often occur in the skin folds of the groin, the inner thigh area, underarms, between the ribs, and under and between the breasts. This condition is most common in warm climates and during the summer months. Intertrigo will appear as a reddish color rash that might be sore or itchy. It normally progresses gradually, starting as a mild chafing, then slowly, with continued exposure to moisture and friction, develops into a persistent itchy rash. Sometimes a secondary bacterial or fungal infection may occur, causing the formation of pustules and weeping and oozing of the skin, as well as severe itching and pain. Severe Intertrigo on the groin or thighs can limit or affect mobility. Intertrigo primarily affects overweight people who perspire heavily and people with diabetes. It can also occur in any individual where fat distribution causes two surfaces of the skin to rub together. Persons who suffer from urinary incontinence are at increased risk of developing Intertrigo in the groin area. Once a person develops Intertrigo it is usually chronic and reoccurring.
Previous patents have addressed part of the problem, that is, the addition of fibers with low co-efficient of friction into apparel to reduce friction. Or, conversely, patents exist which only address wicking properties, especially garments designed for incontinence problems. In doing so, they only addressed part of the problem with skin irritation. None have addressed both factors, that is, moisture and friction as being the causative agents for creating Intertrigo. Prior art has failed to combine wicking and low friction materials to solve the problem and with obesity becoming an epidemic world wide a solution to this problem is important.
Robert T. Gunn's U.S. Pat. No. 5,752,278, May 19, 1998, U.S. Pat. No. 5,829,057, Nov. 3, 1998, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,752,278, May 19, 1998 acknowledge that irritation is caused by moisture and friction. He states, “the addition of low friction material to the fiber, yarn, fabric or article can also be useful to wick away moisture from the skin to help guard against irritation as well as wetness.” However, according to the DuPont Technical Information brochure, TEFLON® PTFE, Properties, Processing, and Applications, which he makes reference to, the moisture regain percentage for TEFLON® is 0.0%. All of the garments heretofore known suffer from a number of disadvantages:
Since irritation of the skin is known to result from moisture and friction, the addition of a fiber with 0.0% moisture absorption properties while serving to facilitate wicking would not work as efficiently as a fiber whose sole function is to wick and absorb perspiration.
Gunn's patent's primarily teach the addition of low friction materials which are incorporated into both sides of the material. When he teaches plating as a method, he only includes weaving, not knitting, as the preferred method.
Gunn's patents include apparel with seams in the inner thigh area. The addition of seams in the inner thigh area causes irritation of the skin. His patent does not address the addition of an inner thigh panel or circular knitting techniques, which eliminate seams altogether, as a preferred method of constructing a garment. His solution is the addition of low friction fibers to the seams instead of the elimination of seams altogether in this area.
Gunn's patents do not add any fiber or chemical which are antibacterial/antifungal into the garment to help with infections that are secondary to skin irritation once moisture and friction are present.
Gunn's patents teach the use of low friction materials on the exterior of both sides of the inner surfaces of the thigh areas. This method can be used, however, exterior plating on one surface of the inner thigh area is sufficient to reduce friction on both surfaces and he does not teach this.